Arrival
The team arrived on location early at around 2:00 pm to take in the area surrounding the hotel, including the now defunct railway system, which the town was built around and relied heavily on as an economic driver. Brandon began taking outside video and photographs of the hotel and its property, including drone footage. At 3:05 pm, Noah and Gravy did a brief Facebook Live session to kick off what was the first investigation of PIM’s 2021 Expedition. The caretaker arrived at 5:00 pm to let the team into the hotel, do a building walk-through, answer questions, etc. The team immediately began setting up Basecamp in a large room off the side entrance of the hotel on the 1st Floor. At 5:46 pm, Amber started her control recorder for documentation purposes. Once the caretaker departed, the team walked the hotel together to determine placement of equipment.
The 1st Floor has minimal claims, the main one being that of a piano playing by itself when no one is in the room. A Zoom H1 digital audio recorder was placed in the room with the piano to catch any potential audio. Another Zoom H1 digital audio recorder was placed outside on the front porch. The outside recording is so that investigators can cross reference their internal recording devices with the external device to ensure outside noise contamination is not confused with paranormal sounds inside the building.
Nearly all paranormal claims were reported on the 2nd Floor, so the team focused much of their equipment there. A Sony HDR-CX160 multi-spectrum camera was placed at the end of the 2nd Floor Hallway, outside of the Pastor’s Room, to capture any evidence of shadow figures reportedly passing back and forth between rooms. A single-axis EMF Detector Mel8704REM/SDD (REM portion only) was placed near the camera. A Zoom H1 digital audio recorder was placed in the middle of the 2nd Floor Hallway to capture any audio, including claims of footsteps.
A Sony FDR-AX100 4K camera was placed in the Pastor’s Room on the 2nd Floor along with a Zoom H1 digital audio recorder and an EMF Pump. It is said that during his stay at the Roads Hotel, a pastor hung himself in the Attic, and claims of voices, shadow figures and footsteps are reported in the room where he slept. Items were placed in this room, in full view of the camera, as potential trigger objects, including a top hat and a crucifix on the bed and a bottle of whiskey, an old medicine bottle and a slinky placed on a side table along with a pagan artifact. Trigger objects are miscellaneous items that are strategically chosen in hopes to invoke a response. An orange EDI+ Datalogger and a magnetic levitator were placed on the side table as well. In the event any of the objects moved, the seismic vibration would be datalogged by the EDI+. The EDI+ datalogger graphs several variables including, EMF, barometric pressure, humidity and ambient air temperature. It also has a vibration sensor, similar to a geophone. Photos were taken of the trigger objects for documentation purposes.
Directly across from the Pastor’s Room is Everett Roads’ Room. At 19, Everett contracted tuberculosis and was quarantined to this room until his untimely passing. A Sony FDR-AX53 4K camera and a Zoom H1 digital audio recorder were placed in this room to capture any visual or audio evidence. Trigger objects, including a confederate Civil War cap, a small bottle of whiskey and magnetic levitator were placed on the dresser along with a grey EDI+ datalogger and were in view of the camera. Baseline photos were taken before and after the investigation to document the starting positions of said objects.
Located at the top of the stairs on the 2nd Floor is the Doll (also known as the Children’s Room) Room. The Doll Room has claims of voices, dolls and other objects moving and touch flashlight play. A Sony HDR-CX160 multi-spectrum camera was placed in the room along with a Zoom H1 digital audio recorder. A trigger object bank was set up in full view of the camera on one of the twin beds and included two barbie dolls, two stuffed animals, toy car, slinky, Bible, toy horse, toy soldier and touch flashlight. The touch flashlight is activated by two contacts being touched, thus completing a circuit and turning the light on. The touch flashlight is used in lieu of a flashlight that has had the battery compartment or on/off switch manipulated to function in a way that is not intended and as a result, can create false positives. The trigger object bank also included the PIM Platter. The PIM Platter is a plate with letters (A-Z) and numbers (0-9) around the outer rim of the plate. A metal rod on a swivel in the middle of the plate is positioned in a neutral location of the rim. The premise of the PIM Platter is to allow something to manipulate the metal rod in the direction of a letter or number in response to questions asked by investigators. A DM X-930 Dark Matter detector was also placed in the room as well. The Dark Matter detector is a device that measures EMF, temperature, barometric pressure and has a high-quality audio recorder. This device also datalogs these measurements for later review should something occur and would need to be referenced.
A final Zoom H1 digital audio recorder was placed in the Attic, where reports of voices have been made.
At 5:48 pm, Amber took weather conditions using a Kestrel 3500 weather station. During this time, the rest of the group went around the house and began starting and time stamping their equipment. Time stamps, from a designated atomic watch, are used as a point of reference and make cross referencing easier during evidence review.
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Investigation
At 6:25 pm, Noah, Gravy, Marilsa, Tom and Amber left for dinner. At 6:30 pm, Brandon did a Facebook Live isolation session inside the hotel. When he finished the session, he then left the house to allow the recording equipment to get baseline readings of the house with no living humans inside. Baseline readings give investigators a baseline of the building to compare possible activity with. Brandon remained on the premises but a far distance from the home so as not to contaminate any audio equipment.
At approximately 8:15 pm, the group re-entered the house and started and time stamped their control recorders. From this point on, PIM members are required to speak in full voice and tag any noise they make.
Tagging is the process of calling out noises investigators make during an investigation. Noises investigators make can be anything from bodily sounds, such as stomach growling or breathing noises, to external noises, like squeaky shoes, shifting or chairs creaking. Tagging is required from the moment a piece of equipment is started until the time it is turned off. This allows for easy identification of noises heard when reviewing evidence. When an investigator makes a noise, it is their responsibility to tag it or say, “that was me.”
Every member of PIM is equipped with a Zoom H1 audio recorder, which is used as their control recorder and an Extech RHT50 datalogger. Control recorders are not only used as another recording device, but also to document the sound contamination that an investigator might create during an investigation. Control recorders are started and time stamped first before any other equipment is started and they are turned off last to ensure any anomalous noises can be cross-checked. Control recorders are also placed in a Faraday cage, if possible. A Faraday cage is a container that can block EMF frequencies. The construction of the cage will determine how many different EMF frequencies the cage will be able to block. Faraday cages work by generating an external static electrical field which causes the electric charges within the cage’s conducting material to be distributed such that they cancel the field’s effect in the cage’s interior. PIM’s cages are designed to specifically block out FM and some AM radio frequencies from interfering with their audio recorders, thus creating false EVPs.
2nd Floor – 11:52 pm
The group spread out on the 2nd Floor and began the investigation by observing control silence starting at 9:16 pm. Control silence is the practice of sitting quietly and getting accustomed to the normal sounds of the building. It allows for investigators to get a baseline of normal building sounds. Noah was seated at the far end of the Hallway outside of the Pastor’s Room. Amber sat in the doorway of the Doll Room, Brandon sat on the opposite side of the Hallway as Noah (outside Room #7), Marilsa was seated in the doorway of the Bathroom, Gravy sat in the doorway next to the Doll Room and Tom sat at the end of the Hallway by Room #1. Noted during control silence was the sound of cars driving by, stomach noises, Tom reported hearing a distant firecracker, creaking floorboards, and rain as it had started to rain quite hard at this point. Gravy also reported some sort of mechanical sound, like an air conditioner running. Shortly after the EVP session started, Gravy noted the mechanical sound stopped.
Gravy began the EVP session at 9:20 pm. An EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) session is the practice of asking questions and leaving ten seconds of silence in between in hopes of capturing a response via an audio recording device. Rarely is a response heard by the investigator’s ears and when a response is heard by human ears it is called a disembodied voice. Group members took turns asking questions without response.
No activity was captured, or anomalies identified. The group moved on to the Attic.
Attic – 9:45 pm
The Attic had very limited space due to safety concerns with floorboards. Noah, Tom and Gravy spread out as much as possible in the Attic. Amber sat at the bottom of the stairs, Brandon in the middle of the stairs and Marilsa sat just outside of the Stairwell, across from Amber, in Room #7. From 9:45 pm to 9:50 pm the group observed control silence. During the control silence, investigators reported hearing rain, wind that sounded like howling, shifting and chair noises, an investigator sneeze, and it was noted that headlights could be seen from the window.
Noah began the EVP session at 9:50 pm. At 9:51pm, Gravy felt a vibration twice from the floorboard on his right leg. Both of Noah’s feet were on the same floorboard and he did not feel the vibration. Noah and Gravy attempted to recreate the vibration by stomping on various floorboards as well as shifting in their chairs but were unable to do so.
It was noted that multiple cars could be heard passing and that, due to the storm, tree branches were blowing against the building.
At 10:10 pm, Brandon heard a three-syllable whisper that mimicked duh-duh duh. The sound came between where he and Amber were sitting. Amber said she was not talking at the time Brandon heard this. Unfortunately, this was not captured upon audio review.
At 10:12 pm, Gravy and Tom heard a slight thump and Tom felt the board under his feet vibrate; they agreed that the thump came from the stairway area. No investigator reported moving at the time this was heard.
After asking multiple questions, no responses were captured. This EVP session was concluded and the team moved to the 1st Floor.
1st Floor – 10:21 pm
The group spread themselves throughout the 1st Floor. Noah was in a Hallway between Basecamp and the Dining Room, directly across from Gravy who was in the Dining Room. Amber, Tom and Brandon were spread throughout the Piano Room. Marilsa was in the Foyer.
Control silence was observed from 10:21 pm until 10:25 pm. During this time there was a loud boom heard outside but was determined not to be paranormal. Marilsa observed various cracks and pops coming from the Kitchen off the Living Room. Marilsa later noted that the pops and cracks she heard were coming from the refrigerator in the Kitchen next to the Living Room. Noah heard a click and squeak like a door opening; the noise came from his right side. There was also a dog barking.
Amber began the EVP session at 10:25 pm. At 10:30 pm, Marilsa heard what sounded like one knock against wood in the Living Room. The source of the noise could not be identified, and it was not heard again and was not picked up during evidence review.
At 10:33 pm, Noah heard a faint one syllable noise from what sounded like a female voice. He said it could have come from outside.
At 10:37 pm, Marilsa felt three vibrations on the floor, however, no other investigators heard or felt anything. She described it as a feeling of a floorboard moving up and done.
Additional questions were asked with no responses. The EVP session was concluded, and the team took a brief break.
2nd Floor – 11:12 pm
The team resumed investigating on the 2nd Floor. Amber and Marilsa were seated in Everett’s Room, Noah and Gravy were seated across from each other in the Pastor’s Room. Tom and Brandon were spaced out in the Hallway. No control silence was observed as it had been done previously. The EVP session began at 11:12 pm.
At 11:14 pm, Amber and Marilsa heard a distinct pop noise right next to Marilsa in Everett’s Room. The noise sounded as if it were made directly on the dresser in the room. There was an audio recorder on the dresser where they reported hearing the sound, and that recorder did not capture the noise.
It was noted at this time that raindrops could be heard in various locations.
At 11:24 pm, investigators noted that a tarp placed over a window by PIM members to block out light fell. This was not paranormal, but it was documented for reporting purposes.
The EVP session was ended, and the team shifted to the other side of the 2nd Floor, near the Doll Room and the Stairwell that leads up to the 2nd Floor.
2nd Floor – 11:35 pm
The team immediately began an EVP session at 11:35 pm. At 11:43 pm, Marilsa heard one knock directly following Gravy’s request for two knocks. This knock was not captured on any audio devices.
There were no other sounds observed throughout the remainder of the EVP session. The session was concluded, and the team moved to the Attic for a second time.
Attic – 11:56 pm
Amber, Brandon and Marilsa spaced themselves out in the Attic. Tom was seated in the middle of the Stairwell leading up to the Attic. Gravy was located at the base of the Stairwell and Noah was seated in Room #7, directly across from Gravy.
The EVP session began at 11:56 pm. It was noted during this EVP session that raindrops could be heard hitting caution tape inside the Attic that helped cordon off its more hazardous areas.
With no sounds or events noted, the session was ended.
1st Floor – 12:17 am
The team returned to the 1st Floor for a final time and immediately began an EVP session. Amber and Brandon were seated in the Dining Room. Noah sat on the Stairwell. Gravy and Marilsa were seated in the Piano Room and Tom was seated in the Hallway.
The team took turns asking questions, but no sounds were heard or captured. Noah called the investigation and the team began breaking down and putting away their equipment. Once breakdown was complete, the team had the opportunity to sleep in the hotel.
END TIME: 12:30 am
Evidence
AUDIO: None
VIDEO: None
PHOTO: Due to the nature of photo evidence, PIM does not believe photos are true evidence of the paranormal. However, photos are taken for baselines and documentation of trigger objects starting positions.
Conclusion
This was PIM’s first time investigating the Roads Hotel. We would like to thank the caretakers and the Lost Limbs Foundation for the accommodations. The hotel and the town where it’s located carry a rich and interesting history. Although PIM did not capture any evidence of the paranormal during our investigation, we hope to return to continue our study of this historic site and to support its worthy cause.
